This is the joint website of Women Against Rape and Black Women's Rape Action Project. Both organisations are based on self-help and provide support, legal information and advocacy. We campaign for justice and protection for all women and girls, including asylum seekers, who have suffered sexual, domestic and/or racist violence.

WAR was founded in 1976. It has won changes in the law, such as making rape in marriage a crime, set legal precedents and achieved compensation for many women. BWRAP was founded in 1991. It focuses on getting justice for women of colour, bringing out the particular discrimination they face. It has prevented the deportation of many rape survivors. Both organisations are multiracial.

Get help

Justice is your Right! A Self-Help Guide for rape survivors and their supporters – is available here. It is available online, as a PDF download , or to order as a printed copy by post.

Our Guide goes step by step through the legal process, from reporting to the police, to going to court, and applying for compensation.

If you have an experience of rape or other sexual violence (including racist sexual assault) and would like to talk to us, please contact us to make an appointment by phone or in person. We suggest you read the Guide first. We can discuss with you:

- Deciding whether to report to the police.

- What the police are doing or not doing if you’ve already reported.

- What will happen if your case is going to court (Read what this father wrote about how we helped his daughter who was in two minds about giving evidence against her rapist.)

- How to apply for criminal injuries compensation as a victim of crime, and how to appeal if you’re refused compensation.

- How to make a complaint against the police or Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). If you have already complained to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), we would like to hear from you as we are monitoring complaints.

If your report of sexual violence has been disbelieved, if you are pressed to withdraw, retract or even threatened with prosecution for any offence, we want to hear from you. We are campaigning for more rapists to be prosecuted and against women being prosecuted for so-called false allegations of rape and for other unrelated offences when they report rape. Safety should be the priority. And all women are entitled to the protection of the law.

If you are living outside of London you may want to contact a more local group, and also be in touch with us. If you want to organise with others against rape, we are running workshops outside of London. Call us for more information. Or organise your own! Contact us to find out how.

Survivors seeking asylum
The Finding Refuge from Rape Project, initiated by WAR in partnership with BWRAP, helps women asylum seekers who are survivors of rape and other torture to: - speak about the sexual violence they have suffered;
- gather crucial evidence (such as expert reports we provide) to support their claims;
- access legal and other support to which they are entitled;
- meet other women in similar situations for self-help advice and information to help survive the traumatic impact of torture and begin to recover;
- inform the wider public about the real situations they face by enabling them to speak about their experiences publicly.

For more details about the Project, including about the fortnightly self help sessions, or if you are a legal representative wanting to commission an expert report, please contact us.